MORATUWA - Thisara Perera struck a brisk half-century and then took two wickets to help Sri Lanka Cricket Board President's XI beat Pakistanis by 13 runs according to the D/L method.
Opting to bat, the President's XI openers Danushka Gunathilaka and Tillakaratne Dilshan raced to 48 in 7.2 overs, but Mohammad Talha struck twice in the space of three deliveries to peg the hosts back. President's XI, however, counterattacked on the back of three big partnerships, as four of their batsmen raised fifties.
Gunathilaka (51) first added 69 for the third wicket with Dinesh Chandimal, before Ashan Priyanjan (65) and Kithuruwan Vithanage (56) combined for a fifth-wicket stand which yielded 98 runs. Mohammad Hafeez dealt the hosts three quick blows to reduce them to 262 for 7, but Perera slammed 52 off 45 balls with three fours and three sixes to lift President's XI to 325 for 7.
Pakistanis began brightly with a 73-run opening stand, but President's XI kept chipping away at the visitors and were rewarded with wickets at regular intervals. Pakistanis were precariously placed at 137 for 4, but a 68-run association between the captain Misbah-ul-Haq and Fawad Alam brought them back into the game.
Perera, however, crucially dismissed both batsmen in the 38th over to slow Pakistanis down. Shahid Afridi accelerated with a 20-ball 37, but it would not prove to be enough, as bad light forced a premature end to the game after 46.2 overs, with Pakistanis still 13 runs short according to D/L.
Scoreboard

SL BP XI
M Gunathilaka c Akmal b Riaz    51
T Dilshan lbw b Talha    19
L Thirimanne c Akmal b Talha    0
L Chandimal c Shehzad b Hafeez    37
A Priyanjan c Riaz b Hafeez    65
K Vithanage lbw b Hafeez    56
C de Silva c Maqsood b Hafeez    9
T Perera not out    52
S Randiv not out    18
EXTRAS: (lb4, w8, nb6)    18
TOTAL: (7 wickets; 50 overs)    325
FOW: 1-48, 2-48, 3-117, 4-117, 5-215, 6-233, 7-262
BOWLING: Anwar Ali 8-1-67-0, M Talha 9-0-54-2, Wahab Riaz 9-0-65-1, Sohaib Maqsood 2-0-19-0, M Hafeez 10-1-44-4, Shahid Afridi 8-0-52-0, Fawad Alam 4-0-20-0
PAKISTANIS:
Ahmed Shehzad c Gunathilaka b Chameera    39
M Hafeez c Priyanjan b Randiv    54
Younus Khan run out    27
Umar Akmal lbw b Randiv    7
Misbah-ul-Haq c Randiv b Perera    38
Fawad Alam c Gunathilaka b Perera    28
Sohaib Maqsood c Gunathilaka b Chameera    29
Shahid Afridi c sub b Gamage    37
Anwar Ali not out    13
Wahab Riaz not out    3
EXTRAS: (lb1, w10, nb4)    15
TOTAL: (8 wickets; 46.2 overs)    290
FOW: 1-73, 2-118, 3-132, 4-137, 5-205, 6-206, 7-272, 8-281
BOWLING: T Perera 9-0-51-2, S Gamage 9-0-79-1, P Chameera 8.2-0-56-2, C de Silva 8-0-41-0, S Randiv 9-0-52-2, T Dilshan 3-0-10-0
TOSS: SLCBP XI
UMPIRES: L Hannibal and P Udawatta
MATCH REFEREE: G Labrooy